Woman Sentenced to 51 Months in Glass-Eating Fraud Scheme

U.S. Attorney’s Office
December 21, 2010

District of Massachusetts(617) 748-3100

BOSTON, MA—A Massachusetts woman was sentenced today in federal court to 51 months’ imprisonment for her role in a fraudulent scheme in which she, along with her husband, submitted false insurance claims that they had ingested glass found in food they had eaten at restaurants and grocery stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Field Division announced today that MARY EVANO, 49, a/k/a “Nancy Stevens,” “Nancy Dixon,” “Nancy Evano,” “Mary Evans,” “Mary Reed,” “Mary Dixon,” “Lisa Benton,” “Connie Hill,” residing at various addresses in Massachusetts, Maryland, and West Virginia, was sentenced by Judge Rya Zobel to 51 months’ imprisonment and over $340,000 in restitution for her role in defrauding restaurants, grocery stores, insurers, hospitals, and doctors in a long-running scheme in which she and her husband falsely claimed to have ingested glass served to them.

From at least August 1997 through June 2005, Evano, and her husband, Ronald Evano, engaged in an insurance fraud scheme pursuant to which they submitted false claims that they had been injured by restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The Evanos falsely claimed that various hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets had served them food with glass particles. Although in some instances the Evanos may have actually ingested glass particles, those glass particles did not come from food served by the restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets. Rather, the Evanos intentionally ingested the glass particles and then falsely claimed that the restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets had caused the particles to be in food that they were served. In connection with their scheme, the Evanos submitted their various glass ingestion claims under a variety of identities, using false identification and false Social Security number information. Through their fraudulent scheme, the Evanos obtained in excess of $200,000 and incurred over $100,000 in medical bills, which are unpaid to date. Mary Evano pled guilty to the charges earlier this year.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Zobel noted Mary Evano’s prior criminal history and her decision to flee from justice once she learned of her indictment. Evano was a fugitive for nearly four years until the United States Marshals and Brockton police apprehended her in Brockton earlier this year.

The defendant’s husband, Ronald, was sentenced in 2007 to 63 months’ imprisonment for his role in the offense.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau. It is being prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack W. Pirozzolo of Ortiz’s office.